Writing legal essays and answering problem questions for
modular subjects and exams – a Guide.
Esther McGuinness, School of Law, Magee Campus
1. General citation of authorities
One of the most important requirements for answering questions on the law is
that you must be able to back the points you make with authority, usually
either a case or a statue. It is not good enough to state that the law is such
and such, without stating the case or statute which says that that is the law.
Higher marks will be given where the candidate has cited authorities by name;
quite simply it helps to give the impression that you know your material
thoroughly, rather than half-remembering something you heard once in class.
This means that you must be prepared to learn fairly long lists of cases. For
exam purposes you need to memorise the name of the case, a brief
description of the facts, and the legal principle which the case established.
Once you have revised a topic well, you should find that a surprisingly high
number of cases on that topic begin to stick in your mind anyway, but there
will probably be some that you have trouble recalling.
Knowing the names of cases makes you look more knowledgeable, and also
saves writing time in the exam, but if you do forget a name, referring briefly to
the facts will identify it. It is not necessary to learn that the dates of cases,
though it is useful if you know whether it is a recent or an old case. N.B Dates
are usually required for statutes.
You need to know the facts of a case in order to judge whether it applies to
the situation in a problem question. However, unless you are making a
detailed comparison of the facts of a case and the facts of a problem
question, in order to argue that the case should or could be distinguished, you
should generally make only brief reference to facts, if at all – long descriptions
of facts waste time and earn few marks.
2. Is there always a right answer?
In law exams, there is not usually a right or wrong answer. What matters is
that you show you know what type of issues you are being asked about.
Essay questions are likely to ask you to ‘discuss’, ‘criticize’, or ‘evaluate’, or
‘examine’. You simply need to produce a good range of factual and critical
material in order to do this. Please do not reproduce large chucks of lecture
notes! The lecturer will want to see evidence that you understand the topic
you are writing about.
3. Breadth and depth of content
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Where a question seems to raise a number of different issues – as most do –
you will achieve better marks by addressing all or most of those issues than
by writing at great length on just one or two. Law examinations tend to contain
a mixture of essay questions and what are known as ‘problem questions’.
Tackling each of these questions involves slightly different skills.
Essay questions
1. Answer the question asked
Over and over again, examiners complain that candidates do not answer the
question they are asked – so if you can develop this skill, you will stand out
from the crowd. You will get very few marks for simply writing all you know
about a topic, with no attempt to address the issues raised in the question. If
you can adapt the material that you have learnt on the subject to take into
account the particular emphasis given to it by the question, you will do well. A
good idea is to get some past exam papers from the library.
2. Plan your answer
Under the pressure of time, it is tempting to start writing immediately, but five
minutes spent planning each essay question is well worth spending – it may
mean that you write less overall, but the quality of your answer will almost
certainly be better. The plan need not be elaborate: just jot down everything
you feel is relevant to the answer, including case names, and then organize
the material into a logical order appropriate to the question asked. It should go
without saying that you should always start the essay with an introduction
which sets out what you intend to cover in the essay and for what purpose.
This way the examiner will see that you have thought about the substantive
issues in the question you have been asked.
3. Provide analysis and fact
Very few essay questions require merely factual descriptions of what the law
is; you will almost always be required to analyse the factual content in some
way, usually highlighting any problem or gaps in the law and suggesting
possible reforms.
Where a question uses the word ‘critically’, as in ‘critically describe’ or
‘critically evaluate’, the examiners are merely drawing your attention to the
fact that your approach should be analytical and not merely descriptive; you
are not obliged to criticize every provision you describe. Having said that,
even if you do not agree with particular criticisms that you have read, you
should still discuss them and say why you do not think they are valid. There is
very little mileage in an essay that simply describes the law and says it is
perfectly satisfactory. Descriptive essays such as these will provide you with
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very few marks. Do not be afraid to apply an opinion of your own! This is your
opportunity to discuss what you think is right or wrong with a particular topic.
4. Structure
However good your material, you will gain really high marks if you structure it
well. Making a plan for each answer will help in this, and you should also try
to learn your material in a logical order – this will make it easier to remember
as well. The exact construction of your essay will obviously depend on the
question, but you should aim to have an introduction, then the main
discussion, and a conclusion. Where a question is divided into two or more
parts, you should reflect that structure in your answer.
A word about conclusions: it is not good enough just to repeat the
question, turning it into a statement, for the conclusion. Your conclusion will
often summarize the arguments that you have developed during the course of
your essay.
Problem questions
In problem questions, the exam paper will describe an imaginary situation,
and then ask what the legal implications of the facts are – usually by asking
you to advise one of the parties involved.
1. Read the question thoroughly
The first priority is to read the question thoroughly, at least a couple of times.
Never start writing until you have done this, as you may well get halfway
through and discover that what is said at the end makes half of what you have
written irrelevant – or at worst, that the question raises issues you have no
knowledge of at all.
2. Answer the question asked
This means paying close attention to the words printed immediately after the
situation is described. If a question asks you to advise one or other of the
parties, make sure you advise the right one! Think about the issues in the
case. What case law would you apply? Are the cases you note really
applicable in this problem question? How do you think it might be judged in a
court of law? Answer the question in a logical way.
3. Apply the law to the facts
Remember this is a law examination. You will be required to cite relevant case
law and statute. It is not enough simply to describe the law without applying it
to the facts.
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Unlike essay questions, problem questions are not usually seeking a critical
analysis of the law. If you have time, it may be worth making the point that a
particular area of the law you are discussing is problematic, and briefly stating
why, but if you are addressing all the issues raised in the problem you are
unlikely to have much time for this. What the examiner is looking for is
essentially an understanding of the law and an ability to apply it to the
particular facts given.
4. Structure
The introduction and conclusion are much less important for problem
questions than for essay questions. Your introduction can be limited to
pointing out the issues raised by the questions, or, where you are asked to
‘advise’ a person mentioned in the problem, what outcome that person will be
looking for. You can also say in what order you intend to deal with the issues.
It is not always necessary to write a conclusion, but you may want to
summarize what you have said, highlighting whether, as a result, you think the
party you have advised has a strong case or not.
There is no set order in which the main part of the answer must be discussed.
Sometimes it will be appropriate to deal with the problem chronologically, in
which case it will usually be a matter of looking at the question line by line,
while in other cases it may be appropriate to group particular issues together.
If the question is broken down into the same parts – a, b, c and so on – the
answer can be broken down into the same parts.
Whichever order you choose, try to deal with one issue at a time. Jumping
backwards and forwards gives the impression that you have not thought about
your answer. If you work through your material in a structured way, you are
also less likely to leave anything out.
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